


Turned My Whole World Upside Down

by Val_Brown



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Kid Fic, Kidnapping, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Police Officer Stiles Stilinski, Single Parent Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:48:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6576349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Brown/pseuds/Val_Brown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years ago Stiles disappeared from Beacon Hills. He's back now. With a daughter. But someone from the past wants her and Stiles dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turned My Whole World Upside Down

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was a while in the making. It came from me wanting Single Dad Stiles mainly. It was supposed to be fluffy. It turned out fluffy, but also with added angst cause I don't know. But happy ending so there is that.
> 
> UPDATE! A HUGE thanks to Eeyore9990 for giving this a beta for me. Love you Eey!!!
> 
> There is also a soundtrack that I put together for this. If you want it let me know. I have yet to figure out how to make a link work on this site. LOL
> 
> [Turned My Whole World Upside Down](http://8tracks.com/valress/turned-my-whole-world-upside-down?utm_medium=referral&utm_content=mix-page&utm_campaign=embed_button) from [Valress](http://8tracks.com/valress?utm_medium=referral&utm_content=mix-page&utm_campaign=embed_button) on [8tracks Radio](http://8tracks.com?utm_medium=referral&utm_content=mix-page&utm_campaign=embed_button).

Stiles never thought he would be moving back home at twenty-three. But he especially never thought he would be doing it as a single father. 

~

A sharp cry woke Stiles from a deep sleep. He rolled from his bed and shuffled over to the crib in the corner of his room and blinked bleary eyes down at the tiny flailing baby.

“Hey, Layla, what’s wrong?” Stiles whispered as he scooped her up and cradled her to his chest. Layla quieted down to wet whimpers as he bounced her and maneuvered around the boxes on the floor to get to the stairs and then to the kitchen. He was talking quietly to her and didn’t notice his dad standing at the counter with a cup of coffee. 

“Someone must be hungry,” John said, coming up to press a kiss to the top of Layla’s head.

Stiles started and looked up from where he was cooing at Layla. “Oh, hey dad. We didn’t wake you up did we?”

“No, I was already up. My shift starts at six.” John poured Stiles a cup of coffee while Stiles made up a bottle for Layla. “I’ll be home by five if you want to do dinner.”

Adjusting his hold on Layla, Stiles rubbed the nipple on her lip and she opened up for it, grunting as she began to eat. “Sounds good. I think I’m gonna see Scott today.”

“Oh?” John sat across from Stiles and cupped his hands around his mug. “What about Derek?”

Stiles stiffened up and bit at his bottom lip. “I don’t know, dad.”

“He missed you, you know?” John reached across the table and rested his hand on Stiles arm. “He understands why you left. He doesn’t blame you. No one blames you, for anything that happened.”

“Well, I blame me,” Stiles mumbled, his lips pressed against Layla’s head. He knew no one blamed him. They took every chance they could to tell him that. Allison reassuring him that she was okay and that she in no way blamed him for what the Nogitsune did while wearing his face. 

John sighed and stood up, putting his mug in the sink. He walked over and pressed a kiss to Layla’s head again and one against Stiles’ forehead. “Just talk to him, son.”

Stiles just nodded, and watched Layla blink brown eyes at him as she drank her bottle, gripping his fingers with tiny hands. 

“I hope I don’t screw up everything with you,” he whispered down at her.

~

Stiles was in the middle of changing an especially evil smelling diaper when he heard someone knock on the front door. 

“Shit,” Stiles muttered as he held Layla’s legs up so he could clean her butt. He slid a clean diaper under her and yelled, “Hang on a sec. I’ll be right there.”

As he was snapping the buttons of her jammies, he heard the front door open. He scooped Layla up and smiled, knowing the only person that would just walk in would be Scott. He was not disappointed when he saw his best friend walk into the living room. 

“Hey, Scotty!” Stiles stood up and cradled Layla to his chest with one arm and threw the other around Scott.

Scott wrapped his arms around Stiles and tucked his face against the side of Stiles’ neck. “God I missed you, man.”

Laughing wetly, Stiles squeezed Scott and pulled back. “Wanna meet the girl who turned my world upside down?”

“Of course,” Scott said, sitting on the couch, letting Stiles place Layla in his arms. Scott looked instantly smitten with her. Stiles could understand. The minute Sydney put her in his arms, he was a goner and couldn’t be angry that she was leaving for France. She had given him the greatest gift anyone could ever give him.

“Scott, this is Layla. Layla, this is your Uncle Scott. He’s a good guy, trust me.” Stiles smiled down at them. Knowing that Scott was happy to see him, even after all they had been through and the way Stiles had just up and disappeared one night, made the knot in Stiles' chest loosen just a little bit.

One down. So many more to go.

~

Between unpacking his things and taking care of Layla, Stiles was able to introduce her to nearly all of the pack. After Scott left that first day, Allison and Kira came over next, quietly peering at a sleeping Layla and giving him hugs and kisses on the cheek.

“She’s gorgeous,” Kira whispered, her hands opening and closing like she wanted to hold Layla. 

Stiles chuckled quietly as he picked her up and set her in Kira’s arms. “Thank you. She’s kind of a big deal.”

Allison sat next to Stiles, watching Kira run soft fingers over Layla’s hands. “Where’s her mother?”

He took a deep breath. He knew it would come up sooner or later and honestly he’s not surprised Allison was asking. Out of the entire pack she was the one with the most tact. Except Derek, but he wouldn’t say a word and just let it go.

“She’s in France. She had an internship that she got before she found out about Layla. She didn’t...” Stiles rubbed his thumb over his mouth and looked at where Kira was clutching Layla to her chest, watching him with wide eyes. “She didn’t want to sacrifice it. So she gave her to me.”

Allison clenched her jaw and wrapped her arm around Stiles. “She’s got us.”

He nodded against her shoulder and smiled at Kira. “Yeah, she does.”

~

The next to visit was Lydia, with Jackson in tow carrying quite a few gift bags. 

“Oh, Lydia, you didn’t...” Stiles held the door open, Layla cradled in his arm, watching with bright eyes.

“She seems very alert for being a month old. Her eyes are quite focused,” Lydia observed, scooping Layla from Stiles' arms and sweeping into the living room.

“She has moments where she focuses, then her eyes do that unfocusing thing where they kinda roll around. It scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it happen.” Stiles took the bags from Jackson and set them on the table while Jackson sat next to Lydia and immediately swiped Layla, cooing down at her.

“Stiles, the pink bag is from me,” Lydia said as Stiles began looking through the gifts. “The rest are from Jackson.”

Jackson rolled his eyes even as his attention was nearly one hundred percent on Layla. Stiles really couldn’t blame him, she was mesmerizing. He looked down at the mound of bags and began pulling out piles of tiny socks and t-shirts, onesies and pajamas. “Jesus, did you clear out the baby section, Jackson?”

“Babies grow fast, Stilinski,” Jackson mumbled around a smile as he played with Layla’s fingers. 

“Thank you, Jackson. These are going to be well used.” Stiles put the clothes back into the bag and opened the one from Lydia. It was a beautiful quilt, with Layla’s name in the corner, a space between her first name and her last.

“When you tell me her middle name and her birthdate, I can get it finished,” Lydia said softly as she looked down at Layla, sleeping in Jackson’s arms. 

“Her middle name is Jean, after my dad.” Stiles continued going through the bags from Jackson, pulling out a tiny black leather jacket. “Really Jackson?”

“Hey, every new pack member gets a leather jacket,” Jackson said with a grin. One that he rarely showed anyone, a real grin, not one of the fake ones he liked to wear around town.

Stiles laughed as he tucked it back into the bag and pulled out a small grey/black stuffed wolf with blue eyes. His laugh cut off sharply as he held the toy in his hands. He couldn’t help thinking of Derek, the way his eyes would glow cerulean in the heat of a fight, the way the light would catch on his fully shifted face and make the grey fur on his muzzle shimmer. He tucked the wolf back into the bag and turned to Lydia. “Her birthday is April thirteenth.”

Lydia nodded. Stiles was grateful she ignored how he reacted to the wolf. Jackson was too focused on Layla to notice Stiles' mood change. 

“So, I know you’re planning a party to welcome Layla. You wanna fill me in?” Stiles rested his chin on his hand and looked at Lydia.

Lydia laughed and pulled a large notebook from her bag. Setting it on the table, she gestured to Stiles. “You know me well, even though you’ve been gone for nearly three years. Obviously, your house isn’t big enough, so we’re having it at Derek’s house.”

“He finally finished it?” Stiles asked quietly, watching Jackson play with Layla’s fingers, softly humming what Stiles knew was the Eric Clapton song Layla. It was one he caught his dad singing when he was trying to get her to sleep.

“Yeah, about a year ago.” Lydia got quiet and Stiles knew she was going to tell him something that would make him _feel_ things he hadn’t wanted to feel in a long time. “When he heard about Layla, he...”

“He built her a nursery, off of the room he made for you. Added right on to the back of the house. He even built her furniture,” Jackson said quietly. Stiles was thrown at the gentleness of Jackson’s voice. He wasn’t used to it, it wasn’t Jackson. Jackson was never gentle or nice, he was antagonistic and caustic at the best of times. Stiles could only assume that Jackson being in the presence of Layla softened his prickly personality.

“You know he wants to see you,” Lydia said softly, watching as Jackson gently put Layla back in Stiles’ arms. 

Stiles inhaled deeply and nodded. “I...”

Jackson gave him a pointed look and ran a hand over Layla’s downy hair. “Look Stilinski. You and I are never going to be friends like you are with McCall. But I think we can at least tolerate each other. So listen to what I have to say about this.

You took off in the middle of the night, I can’t really fault you for that. I did the same thing and I feel like it was a good choice for me at that time. Maybe you needed that time, time to deal with all the shit you went through with the Nogitsune. Time to deal with the overwhelming guilt that you had for doing things you had no control over.”

Stiles stood silent as Jackson clapped a hand to his shoulder, gently squeezing it like he understood what Stiles went through. That thought sent a shock through Stiles, because Jackson **did** understand what it was like to do things that he had no control over. Jackson felt the same type of guilt Stiles did, the same fear of losing control again.

 

“Stiles, you left so suddenly it felt like you died. You were just gone, completely. Not just from Beacon Hills but from everything. Even your dad didn’t know where you went. Not until you finally called to tell him where you ended up. Then you wouldn’t let him tell the pack and that was probably worse than if you had actually died. We knew you were somewhere but we couldn’t find you. Your scent was gone. It was the worst feeling, Stiles, and that was just my experience. I can’t say how it was for Derek or McCall. But if it was that bad for me, it had to be at least ten times worse for them. Just talk to him, tell him _why_. He deserves that much, at least.”

Stiles swallowed harshly and nodded as Jackson squeezed his shoulder again. It was slightly disconcerting to see Jackson in this light. Apparently Jackson was a changed man. It was nice to see Lydia finally getting the man she deserved and was going to definitely take a bit of time to digest.

“We’re going now, Stiles. But think about what Jackson said, okay?” Lydia pressed a kiss to his cheek and turned to leave, 

Jackson following behind with a last look at Layla. “I’m serious, Stilinski. Talk to Derek.” 

With that, Jackson shut the door, leaving Stiles alone with his daughter and his own mind.

~

Stiles dealt with the rest of the pack coming over the rest of the week. He had just shown Isaac, Boyd and Erica to the door and was going to lay Layla down when his phone rang. He frowned; no one called him except Sydney, and she hadn’t called him since she'd left for France. One glance at the caller ID and he sighed heavily before answering. This was sooner than he was ready for, but he knew it needed to be done.

“Hey Derek,” Stiles said, adjusting Layla in his arms. 

_”... Stiles.”_

“Still can’t choke out the words, eh Derek?” Stiles huffed a quiet laugh as he laid Layla down in her bassinet and sat on the couch, flipping the tv on. “Tell ya what. You come over, we order dinner and have a talk that’s about three years late.”

There was a grunt on the the other end that Stiles took for affirmation. “Alright, see you in a few then.”

Stiles hung up and stared down at a sleeping Layla. “Well, looks like you’re going to meet Derek sooner than expected. The question is, how is daddy going to explain why he left?”

~

Stiles was just putting the top on Layla’s bottle when there was a knock on the front door. Holding his finger over the nipple, he shook it lightly as he opened the front door. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Derek, he was expecting him. But he didn’t expect him to be better looking than when Stiles left.

Stepping aside, Stiles waved the hand holding the bottle. “Please, come in.”

Derek smiled lightly and walked in the front door. Stiles lead Derek to the living room where he picked up Layla and sat back on the couch. 

“Derek, this is my daughter Layla. Please, sit down.” Stiles settled with Layla, listening to her grunt as she began to eat.

“Where is her mother?” Derek sat in the chair across from Stiles, his face as blank as he could make it, but even after three years gone, Stiles could still pick out the minute changes. He could see Derek pulling back. 

Sighing, Stiles adjusted his hold on Layla and pulled the bottle from her mouth. He laid her over the towel on his shoulder and rubbed her back lightly, trying to get her to burp.

“France. Before you ask, no Sydney and I are not together. We never really were.” Stiles brought Layla down from his shoulder and tucked her against his chest, rocking slightly. 

“Why did you leave?” Derek mumbled, watching as Stiles rocked Layla.

Stiles closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Layla’s hair. He opened them slowly, looking at Derek over the top of Layla’s head. “Derek, I hurt so many people. When it was in control, I felt powerful, like I could do anything. And I could, I did. It was terrifying, Derek. I hurt Allison, I _stabbed_ Scott, _Scott_. My brother. I shoved a sword through his belly and twisted it. I needed to stop seeing all the hurt and fear I caused. 

After it was gone, Scott still flinched around me. Hell, Derek, Peter was afraid of me. Of all people. I needed to get my head on right, so I didn’t call anyone. I figured after I got settled I would call Scott and everyone else. But as time went on it was harder and harder to call anyone. Then Syd came to me and told me she was pregnant. I called my dad the next day, after I stopped freaking out, and here we are now.”

Derek took a deep breath and moved to sit next to Stiles. Stiles felt Derek’s arm across the back of the couch behind him. “May I?” Derek asked quietly, reaching out a hand to run his fingertip along Layla’s cheek.

Stiles turned and set Layla in Derek’s arms. “You know I was in love with you, that’s why when it was in me it wanted to hurt you. I couldn’t let it hurt you. Then it was gone and I could remember everything it made me do, the things it wanted me to do that I refused to allow.”

Derek hummed and rocked Layla a bit, brushing her hair back, making it stand up in a tiny mohawk. “I loved you too,” Derek said, letting Layla wrap her fingers around his thumb. “Still do, if I’m being honest. I never stopped.”

Stiles didn’t give himself time to think about it. It had been three long years since he had seen Derek, three years of missing his snarky comebacks and expressive eyebrows. Before he could stop himself, Stiles was leaning over the top of Layla’s head and pressing a kiss to Derek’s mouth.

Derek made a low whine in his throat as Stiles pulled away and settled back against the couch, a smile on his face.

~

Stiles leaned back in his desk chair and watched as Layla pushed herself up on her hands, getting so excited she did it that she tried to clap and ending up smushing her face into the blanket underneath her. 

He chuckled, getting up to help her roll to her back. He popped a pacifier in her mouth before she could start yelling. “Oh, stop you. You’re fine, you just got too excited to keep yourself upright. It happens to the best of us.”

“I see even having an audience that can’t talk back doesn’t stop you from talking, does it?”

Stiles turned around and smiled at Derek, who was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb.

“She finds me entertaining.” Stiles bent down to pick Layla up. She had spit out the pacifier the moment she heard Derek’s voice, her little chubby arms and legs flailing in excitement. She liked people sure, most babies did, but the immediate attachment she had to Derek was only eclipsed by the one she had with Stiles. Stiles was still thrown at how she adored Derek.

Derek chuckled and moved across the room, putting his hands out for Layla as she nearly threw herself out of Stiles arms and into Derek’s.

“Your daddy is a weirdo. isn’t he?” Derek cooed at Layla, rubbing his scruff against her cheek lightly, scenting her. She giggled loudly, smacking Derek on the nose. 

“She was pushing herself up onto her hands just a few minutes ago.” Stiles leaned over and pressed a kiss to Derek’s mouth. Even though this thing with them was still new, it felt right. Like the final puzzle piece slotted into place and all was as it should be.

“Before you know it, she’s going to be crawling,” Derek said, dragging his fingers over Layla’s cheeks making her laugh loudly and try to wiggle away.

“No, no, no!” Stiles put his fingers in his ears. “She is my baby and she will stay a baby until I deem myself ready for her to grow up. Which will be never.”

Derek laughed, throwing his head back in that way that made Stiles want to put his mouth on Derek’s throat. “So, what are you working on?”

Stiles rubbed a finger against the side of his nose. “Working on getting my transfer paperwork together so I can get on with the Sheriff’s department. I was a Deputy for Lane County in Oregon. That’s where I met Syd. She was working on a degree in Linguistics at the University Of Oregon. I was on riot duty during football season, the frat parties can get _insane_ , and she was walking back to her dorm on campus.”

Derek hummed against Layla’s hair while Stiles continue talking. Stiles didn’t really like talking about Sydney. It wasn’t because he was angry, he wasn’t, not really. He just didn’t like thinking about how she just left Layla with no thought. No hesitation. He didn't begrudge her anything; she'd earned the internship, she worked so hard for it and she gave him the greatest gift anyone could. But he still couldn’t understand how she could just leave. 

“What does she look like?” Derek asked. Layla grunted as she snuggled against Derek’s chest, one hand gripped tight against his shirt, the other one fisted in her mouth as she began to fall asleep.

Stiles laughed and rubbed a hand against his cheek. “Uh, well. She looks like you and Cora, and probably Laura too. Long dark hair, light eyes. Here.” Stiles pulled his phone out and flipped to a picture. He turned the phone to show Derek. “This is Syd.”

“Oh,” Derek looked down at Layla and back at the picture. “She looks like my mom.”

“Really?” Stiles looked at the picture and back at Derek. 

“Yeah, Cora and Laura looked like our dad, I looked like our mom.” Derek pushed the fluff of Layla’s hair back. “Her hair is getting long enough for little clips now.”

“I have two containers full of clips, headbands and little rubber bands from Jackson. He likes to put her hair in little pigtails that stand up straight like ears.” Stiles laughed quietly watching Derek twist little tufts of Layla’s hair into spikes. 

“He spoils her,” Derek huffed, cradling her closer to his chest. Stiles choked back a loud guffaw, and laid his head on Derek’s shoulder, looking down at his sleeping daughter. 

“He spoils her yes, but you are her Derek. She adores you already.”

~

“Oh my God, you guys!” Stiles dropped the spoon he was holding on the counter as Scott came barreling into the kitchen, frantic. 

“What? What happened?” Stiles asked, his heart in his throat. 

“Just, come here! You have to see,” Scott said, turning around and rushing back into the living room where Stiles had left Layla with the rest of the pack.

Stiles hurried after Scott, panic biting at his heels when he saw Layla on her hands with her little butt in the air, her feet flat on the floor. She was growling at Isaac, who was laying on his belly, holding her stuffed wolf, and proceeded to bear crawl to him to get her wolf back. Once she reached him, she plopped on her butt and made grabby hands at her wolf, grunting at him for it. 

As Isaac handed her the wolf, Stiles swooped in and scooped her from the floor. “Look at you, crawling. Smartest baby in the world,” Stiles said between smacking kisses to her cheeks, making her giggle and slap his nose.

“Da,” Layla flailed backward in Stiles’ arms. 

“Did she...” Stiles looked around the room as everyone went silent. Layla flailed her arms again, throwing herself backward, getting angry, her little face turning red.

“DA! DA!”

Stiles smiled when he realized what she was doing. He walked over to Derek and put her in his arms. 

Layla immediately settled down and rubbed her face against Derek’s chest. “Da.”

Derek looked like he’d been suckerpunched and all Stiles could do was lean down and press a kiss to his mouth. “Told you she liked you better than Jackson.”

~

 

Stiles was tucking the little red cloak around Layla’s shoulders, while Derek made sure she had her pacifier so she wouldn’t scream once they left for the police station. 

“You gonna put on your costume, Derek?” Stiles asked slyly, pulling his red hoodie on and picking up the bat next to the couch. He watched as Derek sighed and looked down at Layla, shifting to his beta form, making her laugh hard enough to drop her pacifier to the floor.

“Alright, are we ready?” Derek asked Layla, leaning down to tickle her tummy. He picked up her car seat and gave Stiles an unimpressed look.

 

Propping the bat over his shoulder, Stiles grabbed the diaper bag from the floor. Opening the front door, he said, “After you Big Bad.” Stiles laughed at Derek’s glare and his mumbles of _”So cliche, at least you’re cute, Layla.”_

Getting Layla loaded in the car, they headed over to the police station to visit John, who was on duty, seeing as it was Halloween. They drove slowly through town, the sidewalks filled with tiny monsters and princesses, a few Kate Bishops and Black Widows, quite a few tiny Falcons and the ever present Wolverines.

Pulling up to the station, Derek turned the car off and climbed out, rounding to Layla’s side and unhooked her from her carseat while Stiles grabbed her diaper bag and the basket he packed their dinner in to share with John.

Stiles lead the way into the station, holding the door open for Derek and Layla. 

“Hey, Jordan. My dad in his office?”

“Yeah.” Jordan looked at Derek and bit back a laugh at the look on his face. 

“Not a word, Parrish. Or I’m telling about the thing,” Derek gritted out, flashing his eyes.

Jordan put his hands in the air and bit his lip to keep from laughing. He shook his head when Stiles looked at him and turned back to Derek. 

“What thing?”

~

In the seven months Stiles had been back in Beacon Hills, it had been quiet. No monsters of the week, no hunters, no wandering Omegas. Just quiet life and settling in with the Pack again. 

That was when the other shoe dropped, not that anyone knew it was even waiting to drop on them.

~

Stiles was sliding his gun into his holster when his phone rang. He snapped the gunlock on and reached for his phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Stiles. It’s Syd. How are you doing?” The voice on the other end said, hesitation clear in her words.

“Hey you! How is everything? How’s France?” Stiles said, sitting down on the edge of a chair. It had been a couple months since he had last talked to her; Layla hadn’t been crawling yet and only had one tooth.

“So good, Stiles. It’s just amazing. How’s Layla? Does she have more teeth? Does she still have Derek wrapped around her finger?” Syd said with a laugh. It warmed Stiles to the core to know that not only was Syd okay with Derek being in Layla’s life, but actually encouraged it and was pushing for Stiles to ask Derek to be a part of her life permanently. She didn’t know that because Stiles was Pack, so was Layla and therefore she would always have Derek. She wanted the reassurance that Derek would be there and was pushing for Stiles to hint at him adopting Layla. 

Syd may have given up her rights, but she never stopped loving Layla and she never would. She just realized that at this time she was not able to be a good mother. Stiles had never once doubted that. He knew that she wanted more than anything for her little girl to grow up knowing all the love in the world. From everything that Stiles had told her about his family, both blood and found, he hoped Syd knew Layla would grow up being the most loved little girl in the world, and possibly the most spoiled, if her Uncle Jackson had any say about it.

“She’s doing amazing. She has four teeth now and is crawling. It’s the cutest thing, her butt up in the air and she moves like a fat little bear.” Stiles laughed thinking about it. “I’ll send you a video of it.”

“Is she saying words yet?” Syd asked, laughing along with Stiles at the thought of a chunky baby crawling like a bear. 

“She only says Da,” Stiles said, standing up. He had just noticed the clock and he had twenty minutes until his shift started. “Hold on a second, I’m putting on my bluetooth. I’m heading into the station now.”

“Is she calling you or Derek Da?” Syd asked.

“Derek. She just grunts at me right now.” Stiles slid behind the wheel of his jeep and backed out of the driveway. He turned down the street and started toward the station when he heard a loud metallic ping and felt a burn along his thigh. “Shit, Syd. I need you to hang up and call Derek.”

“Stiles, what?” Syd’s voice got frantic. “Talk to me, Stiles. You’re scaring me!”

“Syd, listen to me, please. Call Derek. Tell him to take Layla to Jackson and Lydia and that he needs to get my dad and Chris. Please do this.” Stiles saw the SUV block his jeep off and slammed on the brakes. “I’m going to hang up now. I need you to call Derek.”

“O..Okay.” Syd said quickly. “You better call me back when this shit is over, Stilinski. I need to know you are alright.”

“Okay, I will.” Stiles said, pretty sure he just lied to the mother of his daughter. He watched the SUV doors open and a pile of Hunters pour out, guns and crossbows pointed at him.

“Call Derek.” With that Stiles hung up the phone and flipped the gunlock off his weapon. He may be surrounded but he sure as shit wasn’t going down without a fight. 

Pulling his gun from the holster, he silently apologized to his jeep and fired off two shots at the closest hunters through the windshield. He was able to fire off all thirteen rounds before his door was wrenched open and he was hauled out.

“Hey fellas,” Stiles drawled, as they dragged him to his feet. “So you realize that you aren’t going to get what you want, right?”

“What makes you think you know what we want?” The hunter standing in front of Stiles asked, his hands on his hips. 

“It’s what you always want, _to destroy all the monsters _,” Stiles said dramatically before the hunter on his left punched him in the mouth. Stiles grinned through bloody teeth. “You’re going to regret this.”__

__“Maybe what we want is you. Did you ever think of that?” The hunter in front of him sneered._ _

__Stiles snorted. “Seriously? You had years to get me when I was away from the Pack and alone. But you never did, so it stands to reason that you want the Crazy Hale, the True Alpha, the Beta turned Alpha turned Beta turned Alpha again, the Kitsune or like you said you could want me. The human turned Nogitsune who got ‘better’.” Stiles let them drag him to their SUV and shove him in the back. He knew how this worked, he had dealt with it before. He turned to the hunter next to him. “So which one is it? Come on you can tell me, I won’t tell anyone.”_ _

__The hunter didn’t even acknowledge him. Stiles huffed and sat back against the seat. “You do realize that when I don’t show up to the station they will know something is wrong.”_ _

__The driver looked back at Stiles and his eyes got wide. “You’re a cop?”_ _

__Stiles looked around the SUV and realized they were all staring at him like he had grown a second head. Knowing his luck he just may have. “Are you new? Is the uniform not enough of a hint? Did you not do any research on us? Even if I wasn’t a cop, my dad is.” Stiles was incredulous. “Christ, it’s my luck I get the newbs.”_ _

__“One of you, shut him up.” The driver said just before Stiles’ world went black._ _

__~_ _

__Derek could feel his hands shaking as he pulled out of Jackson’s driveway and turned down the street toward Chris’ house. Since Syd had called him, he’d been on autopilot. He couldn’t let his fear show, it would get Layla agitated and she would cling to him and refuse anyone else._ _

__He was cryptic with Jackson and Lydia, but they knew something was wrong. Just from the way Derek was refusing to use Stiles’ name and brusquely handed Layla to Jackson and set her bag on the floor, before saying that he would be back._ _

__He knew that they knew there was something wrong. He also knew they didn’t say anything because they knew he was purposely keeping his emotions in check._ _

__It seemed like no time before he pulled into Chris’ driveway behind the Sheriff’s cruiser. He was barely out of his car before John came flying out the front door._ _

__“What’s going on, Derek?”_ _

__“I think it’s hunters, Sir. Syd called me saying Stiles told her to call and to get you and Chris. Jackson has Layla and I was going to head over to your house,” Derek said looking at Chris and just beyond him, Peter, with Allison at his side. “Syd said she heard what sounded like gunshots before he hung up.”_ _

__John said nothing. Pushing past Derek, he headed straight for the Camaro. Derek looked back at Chris who just nodded and headed for his own car, Peter and Allison close behind._ _

__~_ _

__They reached John’s house just as Scott and Kira showed up. Erica, Boyd and Isaac were already there waiting._ _

__“It smells like sulfur,” Isaac greeted them as they gathered at the end of John’s driveway. Stiles’ Jeep was parked crooked against the curb. His windshield was blown out and scattered across the concrete. “Stiles and blood.”_ _

__There were subvocal growls at that statement. They could all smell it, and knew it was Stiles’ blood, but it was quite another thing when it was said out loud._ _

__“Alright, so where do we start? Why are there hunters here now after all this time?” John asked the group. In the time that Stiles had been gone there had been no activity from the hunting circles. Most knew of the allegiance between Allison, Chris and the Beacon Hills pack, so what brought Hunters to their door?_ _

__“Could they be after Stiles?” Kira asked, thumb tapping the handle of her katana._ _

__“Why would they wait this long? He was without the pack for three years. They could have taken him at anytime and we never would have known.” Chris asked looking around the group. He was right. Why after this long were they here?_ _

__“Are we absolutely sure this has to do with hunters at all?” Peter piped up. “I mean, lets play Devil’s Advocate for a moment. Stiles is a cop, there are generally people who do not like cops and he was in another state for three years before coming back. Perhaps there are people angry at him for something that happened there?”_ _

__“Oregon does have a pretty large Supernatural community, especially in the Willamette Valley.” Chris said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “There’s a reason Oregon’s motto is ‘Keep Oregon Weird’. If I remember correct, their Witch community is quite large. It could have something to do with that”_ _

__John looked around the group. “Stiles’ mother was from the Willamette Valley. She never had issues with anyone looking for her, why would they come after him now?”_ _

__“It could have to do with the fact that Stiles has a child now. They would follow the new blood line. The potential in the child. Though how they found out is still a mystery. No one outside Beacon Hills knows about Stiles' abilities.” Peter said, melting out of the shadows. The group had long grown used to Peter’s antics. The positive of keeping him around, other than his vast knowledge, moral ambiguity and the fact that something was going on between him, Chris and John, was that no one ever expected him. “Whatever the reason, we need to get him back. Whatever it takes.”_ _

__No one argued with Peter on that point. They just gathered around and began working on a plan._ _

__~_ _

__“Where is the child?” One of the hunters asked, Stiles began calling him Jeb, before punching Stiles in the stomach._ _

__“What child?” Stiles answered, breath being driven out of him with the force of the punch. There was no way in hell he was saying a word about Layla to these monsters._ _

__“The baby. Tell us where she is and you can walk free.”_ _

__Stiles laughed, he laughed so hard he started to cry. “Even if I knew anything about this baby you guys want. What makes you think I would give you an innocent child to save my own ass?”_ _

__After that there was no more talking. Only punches and the occasional kick to his torso. He knew that no matter what happened to him, as long as Layla was safe it would all be worth it._ _

__~_ _

__Derek stumbled on his way to Chris’ car. He felt like someone set fire to his lungs. He began gasping for air. Doubled over at the waist he tried to get air in, but he couldn’t. He felt hands on his face, forcing his head up. He saw Peter’s worried face floating in his eyeline._ _

__“...Erek, come on. Breathe.” Peter’s voice was muffled in his ears. Derek could feel Peter’s claws prick the back of his jaw, not enough to hurt, but enough to begin to ground him. He started taking slow, deep breaths. He could feel his lungs slowly begin to work again, his vision cleared, his hearing unmuffled. “That’s it, Nephew. Breathe with me.”_ _

__Derek recognized that he was now sitting in Chris’ front lawn, Peter in front of him looking more panicked than he had ever seen his uncle look in his life._ _

__“What happened?” Chris asked, standing just behind Peter, but not looming over Derek. He knew that the panic could make him lash out unintentionally._ _

__“They’re hurting him. I can feel it.” Derek whispered, his voice a bit hoarse from the lack of air. “How can I feel it? I’ve never felt any of his other injuries.”_ _

__“It could be your renewed connection, or it could be Layla. Her latent magic could be forging a bond between you and Stiles. A way to make sure that you’re both protected,” Peter said softly._ _

__Derek knew that he didn’t like talking about Aunt Livvie, but that what he was saying made sense. It’s why Peter’s injuries were so bad after the fire. He not only had his own, but Livvie’s as well._ _

__“We need to find him.” Derek pressed his hand to his side. The pain wasn’t bad, but he knew that if he raised his shirt there would be bruises, rapidly healing, but there nonetheless._ _

__Peter nodded and stood up, reaching a hand down to Derek. “Then let’s go.”_ _

__~_ _

__Stiles raised his head slowly. He could hear the hunters talking outside the room. Jeb and one that he was now calling Keith. They were talking about how to make him talk, when he heard a new voice. One that he hadn’t heard since high school and one that he swore was dead._ _

___”He sent the child to the Banshee. It’s just her and a former Kanima. You can get past them and get me that child.”_ _ _

__In that instant, Stiles knew rage. He had been angry when Jennifer took his dad, vengeful when Kate took Derek. But this, this rage he felt was something that the Nogitsune would have cowered from. He knew why mothers could lift trucks off injured children now. He rapidly twisted his wrists, snapping the zip ties they were using to hold him. There was no way he was letting them get anywhere near his daughter._ _

__He looked around the room and found a broken piece of two by four leaning against the wall. He crept closer to the door. He could hear Jeb and Keith getting ready to leave. He could hear Gerard’s raspy breathing, like Darth Vader with a leaking oil pan, getting farther away. As he heard the outer door close, he reached for the doorknob._ _

__He quickly threw the door open, catching Keith by surprise and was able to get a good swing off, hitting the hunter square in the face, knocking him flat, not a twitch to be had. Stiles turned to Jeb and rested the two by four on his shoulder._ _

__“Going somewhere?”_ _

__Jeb said nothing, just rushed at him. Stiles swung the wood, catching him in the belly and, while he was doubled over, dropped an elbow right between his shoulder blades. A swift knee to the face knocked Jeb out and Stiles left him on the floor next to Keith._ _

__He could see he was in a house and that from what he could hear there was no one left in the house. Apparently they didn’t think he was worthy of more that two guards. He chuckled under his breath. He could sense that Gerard was not far away. He didn’t know how he knew that, but at that moment he was not going to question it. He was just going to kill that geriatric bastard._ _

__He crept silently out the front door and was confronted with the sound of cocking handguns. He stood upright and smiled at Gerard, who was standing at the center of a half circle of hunters._ _

__Stiles lifted his hands, one still holding the two by four._ _

__“Long time no see, Stiles,” Gerard rasped out, black oozing from his mouth and nose._ _

__“Unfortunately not long enough,” Stiles quipped back._ _

__“Always with a witty rejoinder. How witty will you be when I kill you and take your child?” Gerard asked, coughing harshly and wiping his mouth._ _

__“Speaking of children. How’s dear Kate?” Stiles rested the wood on his shoulder, looking at each hunter, murder in his eyes. He looked back at Gerard. “Oh that’s right. I killed her.”_ _

__Gerard just growled, a sound that in a normal circumstance would have had Stiles laughing at the weakness of it. But in this case, he braced for impact. The sound of nearly twenty guns being fired at the same time was near deafening. He thought only of Layla and Derek. His hope that Derek would raise her to be the strong woman he felt she would be._ _

__~_ _

__Chris lead the group through the trees when they heard the cacophonous sound of gunfire. Derek howled and took off running, Peter close behind. Chris and John tried to keep up, pure terror helping them. He saw Derek come to a skidding stop at the edge of the trees. They could see Stiles standing in the center of a circle of bodies, his eyes nearly black, his hands held out in front of him and Gerard suspended in the air._ _

__~_ _

__“You really thought it would be that easy to get rid of me? That guns could kill me? A thousand year old chaos demon couldn’t kill me. What makes you think that a decrepit old man could?” Stiles voice sounded not unlike when Void had a hold of him. But it was deeper, more Stiles._ _

__That’s when Chris realized it was Stiles. That whatever power he got from Claudia was unlocked, and this was him protecting himself and his loved ones._ _

__“You would really kill me like this?” Gerard garbled, more black inky blood dribbling from his mouth._ _

__“Old man, I would kill you with a pillow if I could. However, this is suiting me just fine.” Stiles said as he snapped Gerard’s neck and let his body fall to the ground._ _

__Derek stepped forward, his hands out. “Stiles?”_ _

__Stiles turned to Derek, his face lighting up. “Derek.” He breathed out as he crumpled to the ground._ _

__Derek skidded to his side, hitting his knees hard enough to make his teeth clack. “Stiles? Come on. Open your eyes.”_ _

__“He’s worn himself out," Peter said from Derek’s shoulder. “He was using power he had never touched before, coupled with the beatings he took. It wore him out. His heart is beating fine, he’s okay.”_ _

__Derek gathered Stiles in his arms and led the way back to the cars._ _

__~_ _

__Stiles felt tiny fingers jabbing at his eyes. He didn’t want to open his eyes because the last time he did, he was locked in a room and there were hunters talking about taking his little girl. He was afraid if he opened them he would be back there and the smell of Layla and the feeling of tiny hands on his face would just be a figment of his imagination._ _

__“Tatatatatatatata!” Tiny hands slapped at his nose. The sound of that tiny beautiful voice calling him Tata had him opening his eyes, hoping it was not a dream._ _

__He opened his eyes to see Layla perched on the bed next to him, a giant drooly smile on her face as she smacked at his nose. “TATA!”_ _

__Stiles sat up and started crying, gathering her in his arms. He pressed his face to her neck, just breathing in the smell of baby._ _

__“God, I missed you.”_ _

__“She missed you too.”_ _

__Stiles looked up from where he was snuggling Layla to see Derek standing in the doorway, a cup of coffee in his hands._ _

__“You get over here,” Stiles said, holding an arm out for Derek._ _

__Derek climbed on the bed next to him and Stiles pulled him into a kiss. “I love you.”_ _

__“I love you too, Stiles.”_ _

__“UV!” Layla screeched, clapping happily between them._ _

__~_ _

__“I can not believe she’s a year old already,” Syd said, standing next to the gift table, mostly containing gifts from Jackson, much to Stiles' chagrin._ _

__“Tell me about it. It’s like yesterday she was just starting to crawl and now she’s running,” Stiles responded, handing Syd a beer while they watched Layla chase Isaac around the backyard. “So how is everything with that girl you met? Where did you meet?”_ _

__“I met her when I was in South America. She was my tour guide.” Syd took a drink of her beer and looked at Stiles from the corner of her eye._ _

__“What’s her name?” Stiles smiled at Derek, who scooped up a squealing Layla and blew a raspberry on her belly._ _

__“Cora.”_ _

__Stiles choked on his next drink and could attest that the feeling of beer coming out of one's nose was painful. “About five foot seven, dark hair, hazel eyes and the ability to kick your teeth out your ass with just a roll of her eyes?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Syd said slowly and turned to look at Stiles. “How did you know?”_ _

__Stiles barked out a laugh. “Oh my god, this is beautiful! Hey Derek! Your sister has a girlfriend!”_ _

__Syd just laughed. She had a feeling that meeting Stiles that night would lead to amazing things. She was not wrong._ _


End file.
